The Arts in Schools - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

in upper schools. Associated with this area is the musicsuite comprising one or two large ensemble rooms and upto half a dozen practice rooms, storage for instruments etcetc.' 6Whether in the design of new buildings or in the conversionand use of existing plant, we see these principles of coordinationand of dual and possibly multi-use of facilities andspace as of prime importance.114 The size If we take the curriculum patterns we have proposed and theof the range of arts activities we hope to see included, add vocationalschool activities and those related to social studies and moral educationand calculate on the basis of five years compulsorysecondary education, it becomes clear that we are thinkinghere of schools of a certain minimum size. We have, webelieve, to be thinking of schools of 800—1,000 pupils ifwe are to provide and make full use of the facilities neededto operate a full curriculum comprising sciences, the arts andthe humanities — including history, geography, economics,politics and social studies. Schools of a larger size wouldbe able to provide a greater variety of facilities; but above acertain size — say 1,200 — it is widely, and probably wisely,felt that other countervailing considerations begin to arise.There must of course be exceptions to these figures. Dependentupon the form of school organisation used in particularlocal education authorities, an upper school of 1400 for14—18+s might not be too large.115 Falling In many parts of the country the more common problemsrolls are due to the contraction of school rolls. Partly as a responseto falling rolls, the ILEA Inspectorate has been consideringa variety of strategies to maintain and, where possible, toimprove provision for the arts. Since these are being consideredin times of economic restraint, it is implicit in thesesuggestions that there would be some re-allocation of resourcesrather than additional demands. They are based onthree assumptions. First, the functions of some schools,particularly the smaller ones, will have to change and thiswill require co-operation and the acceptance of some commonpatterns of work between schools.Second, in providing alternative patterns for organisingthe eight areas of experience, a priority should be givenfirst to the 16—19 age range followed by 14—16 and, in somecases, the whole secondary range. Third, no single patternof organisation will serve the requirements of every pupil.What are the possibilities for extending the arts curriculum?74